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Tips for Effectively Managing People

By: Stephanie Waikel on May 10th, 2018

Indiana Conference Provides Valuable Insight to Management

Recently, I went to the Supervising and Managing People workshop in Indianapolis put on by the Indiana Chamber and facilitated by FlashPoint. As a new manager, I was looking for professional development opportunities and this one was recommended by a few of my co-workers. I found this conference educational and helpful.

Here are the top 3 things I found useful about this conference:

The DiSC assessment was given to each attendee before the conference. We went over our results on throughout the workshop. I found that assessment to be insightful. Knowing how I communicate and manage others, the DiSC profile also gave me insight on the other management style and how to identify those characteristics.

“Listen more than you speak.” Yes, it seems too common to be valuable, but sometime we all need that reminder.

For effective communication, define the outcome you want. When having a conversation with anyone be sure you ask yourself, “what do you want him or her to do as a result of this conversation? If someone is venting, simply ask them “what action do you want to come from this conversation?”

The 2-day conference was great and had useful content, but more importantly, I found the conversation with the other attendees just as valuable.

Here are a few tips I learned that could be easy to put in place:

Schedule a “follow up” meeting after each regular meeting to complete tasks or any follow up actions from that regular meeting. This only has to be 15-20 minutes. I found this to be such a simple thing to do but it will be so helpful to complete the action items from a meeting right away while all the information is fresh in your mind.

“Email has no tone.” This is a statement that seems very common but is important to remember. Email has no tone and can still be misinterpreted. Usually, if you believe there is a tone to the email, you are projecting that tone. That can cause unneeded drama or miscommunication.

It takes 5 positive comments or remarks to make up for 1 negative comment or remark. Positive feedback can motivate team members, where negative feedback can make team members walk around with their guard up and not open to any feedback. I’m not suggesting to sugar coat everything, just be mindful of other reactions.

Lastly, here are a few quotes shared throughout the workshop binder that I found inspiring.

“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flow charts. It is about one life influencing another.” - John C. Maxwell